World News - Hundreds of US soldiers call for Iraq withdrawal in petition

Hundreds of US soldiers have signed a petition calling for a troop withdrawal from Iraq and the document is to be formally presented to Congress in January, organizers said. "As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq," the petition says."Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for US troops to come home," it says.The campaign's website, www.appealforredress.org, says the petition is sponsored by active duty service members based in the Norfolk, Virginia area and by a sponsoring committee of veterans and military family members.The committee includes Iraq Veterans against the War (IVAW), Veterans for Peace (VFP) and Military Families Speak Out... http://news.yahoo.com

As the 2006 campaign staggered to an angry close, national security and the Iraq war dominated the final-day debate of midterm elections in which national themes, not simply local choices, have framed the most competitive races. Democrats said a vote for them would force change in Iraq strategy, while President Bush led the GOP charge in warning that the opposition party cannot be trusted in a time of war.Dozens of too-close-to-call House and Senate races finished on a surly tone, as the traditional political strategy of shifting to a positive message at campaign's end gave way this year to a calculation that the best chance to tip the balance was through continued attacks over personal character and alleged corruption.But strategists on both sides said yesterday that national security broadly -- and Iraq specifically -- are likely to determine control of Congress today....http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/06/AR2006110601287_pf.html

The new chief of the FBI's Criminal Division, which is swamped with public corruption cases, says the bureau is ramping up its ability to catch crooked politicians and might run an undercover sting on Congress. Assistant FBI Director James Burrus called the bureau's public corruption program "a sleeping giant that we've awoken," and predicted the nation will see continued emphasis in that area "for many, many, many years to come." So much evidence of wrongdoing is surfacing in the nation's capital that Burrus recently committed to adding a fourth 15- to 20-member public corruption squad to the FBI's Washington field office. In the past year, former Republican Reps. Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney have pleaded guilty to corruption charges. FBI agents are investigating about a dozen other members of Congress, including as many as three senators. The Justice Department also is expected to begin seeking indictments soon after a massive FBI investigation of the Alaska Legislature...http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/15937935.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

A day after Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hang, the Shiite-dominated government offered a major concession Monday to his Sunni backers that could see thousands of members of the ousted dictator's Baath party reinstated in their jobs.With a tight curfew holding down violence after Saddam's guilty verdict and death sentence, the government reached out to disaffected Sunnis in hopes of enticing them away from the insurgency, which has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and is responsible for the vast majority of U.S. casualties.The U.S. military announced the deaths of five more American troops, two in a helicopter crash north of Baghdad and three in fighting west of the capital. The deaths raised to 18 the number of U.S. forces killed in the first six days of November.Relentless sectarian killings also persisted despite the extraordinary security precautions. Fifty-nine bodies were discovered Sunday and Monday across Iraq, ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-11-06-iraq-baathists_x.htm?csp=34

Nearly three-quarters of 163 countries ranked in a new survey suffer from a perception of serious corruption, while in nearly half it is seen as rampant, a watchdog group reported Monday. Transparency International's 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index gives the worst scores to many of the world's poorest countries, including almost all African nations, indicating a strong correlation between corruption and poverty. The stragglers also included several so-called "failed states," including Iraq, which dropped from place 137 last year to second-last as the situation there continues to deteriorate. "Corruption traps millions in poverty," the agency's international chairman Huguette Labelle said in a statement. "Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today's results indicate that much remains to be done." The agency's scale is based on the perceptions of the degree of corruption by businesspeople and country analysts. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-06-corruption-survey_x.htm?csp=34

A windy Pacific storm dumped heavy rain Monday on western Washington, killing at least one person, prompting warnings of record flooding and closing the main road in Mount Rainier National Park.A 20-year-old elk hunter from Seattle died when his pickup truck was swept into the Cowlitz River south of Mount Rainier, authorities said.Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency for 18 counties, authorizing the National Guard to activate and the state Emergency Management Division to coordinate assistance.Officials at Mount Rainier National Park, which had 7 inches of rain Sunday and was expecting 10 more Monday, closed the main park road, turned visitors away and sent employees home early via the only exit road open."We want to prevent visitors getting trapped inside the park. The road is vulnerable to washouts in several key places, and there is only one way out," superintendent Dave Uberagua said....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/07/ap/national/mainD8L7TMKG1.shtml